Violence On College Campuses

Heading off to college is an exciting time for millions of recent high school graduates. College represents a new environment, new experiences, new people, and is an important step in the life of many people. However, as news today are overfilled with the examples of violence in colleges and universities that range from mass shootings to incidents of rape, assault, burglary, etc., parents and education professionals are becoming more concerned about the atmosphere in which students are bound to spend several years of their college life. Over the past decades, there have been reports of increased violence on U.S. college campuses, particularly sexual assaults, and the numbers of victims continue to rise (Korn 2016). Although awareness of campus …show more content…
Traditional society is defined as patriarchal, where men are placed on top of the social ladder while women remain at the bottom (Sparkman 2017). Socialization and sex role stereotypes have altered modern rape culture of colleges and universities. The sensationalization of sexual violence and the normalization of rape jokes and any act of sexual harassment have decreased the negativity of sex crime and are a factor of the increasing rates of sexual violence on campus. Also, the increase of drug and alcohol usage also correlates to the increase in offenses. It is shown in many studies that college students, especially those that live in “wet” communities, filled with bars, liquor stores, and other alcohol outlets, have greater use of alcohol and other drugs than other youths in society (Fisher and Sloan 185-86). The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) shows that roughly 40 percent of offenders were perceived to be using alcohol or drugs and the use of “date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol,” or roofies, are particularly popular among sexual predators (Fisher and Sloan 186-214). About 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape (Fisher and Sloan